... and smoothing the transition to new history GCSEs in 2016. Wiith significant changes to GCSE history on the horizon, SHP and OCR are delighted to announce a major new partnership. We’ll be working together to produce the best possible, and only official, SHP specification, which will be provided exclusively by OCR. The development is being led by SHP Fellows and their Director, Michael Riley, ...

At the start of the school Easter holiday, the Department for Education finally published guidance on subject content for the new GCSEs. Ofqual also announced details of the assessment objectives for different GCSE subjects. These two documents will determine the nature of new GCSE courses from September 2016. As far as history is concerned, they will lead to the most radical shake-up of the 14-16...

Shock, dismay, sadness, anger... these have been the reactions of many history teachers to the long-awaited review of National Curriculum for History. This is the weakest and potentially the most damaging iteration of the National Curriculum since it began in 1991 ...

SHP Director, Michael Riley writes "At last we’ve had an announcement on the future of the curriculum – well 14-16 at least. And for SHP, the priority now is to engage fully in the consultation process, to work with Awarding Organisations and HE bodies in the development of specifications and, further down the line, to provide the resources and professional development that will guarantee an impro...

How did you become fascinated by history?
For me, it was Mr Mumford’s history walks. Mr Mumford, my history teacher at secondary school, liked doing history in muddy boots. In his history lessons we explored the history around us in the Central Pennines: ruined mills, handloom weavers’ cottages, pre-industrial causeways, the canal, the Roman road...

This afternoon, I took my A level history group to an archaeological dig at a local Iron Age hill fort. Then, as I drove home, I reflected on how so much of what we’d done at Ham Hill was based on SHP principles ...

About The Author

Michael has been SHP Director since 2008. He is responsible for the strategic direction of SHP, ensuring that the project provides an independent source of ideas and experience for the teaching of history in schools